The Footsteps Of Jozeph Paul Zhang: From Salatiga Flew To Germany, Then Became A Fugitive

Joseph Hagios Zhang, in a discussion entitled 'Islamic Fasting in Islam'. (Photo: Hagios Europe / YouTube)

JAKARTA - The National Police has named Jozeph Paul Zhang aka Shindy Paul Soerjomeoljono as a suspect in a case of alleged hate speech and blasphemy. So, the Police continued to track his whereabouts, which he said was abroad to immediately arrest him.

To find his whereabouts, the National Police also published a wanted list. In fact, collaborating with Interpol will lead to the issuance of a red notice.

However, if you look at Jozeph Paul Zhang's background, it turns out that he was known to have lived in Salatiga City, Central Java.

Salatiga Police Chief AKBP Rahmad Hidayat said that based on preliminary information, Paul Zhang had lived in Salatiga and even had time to study at one of the leading private universities in the city.

“The actor studied in the agriculture department around 1997. Because of the old data, whether he graduated or not, we are still coordinating with UKSW (Satya Wacana Christian University). Then since 2012 he left Salatiga and continued his theological studies abroad", said Rahmad, Monday, April 19.

Rahmad explained, based on the initial data collected, Jozeph Paul Zhang had lived in Dliko Indah Housing, Blotongan Village, Sidorejo District, Salatiga, with the status of renting a house.

In fact, Jozeph Paul Zhang is called a native of Tegal. This is based on data from the Civil Registry Office in 2017.

"So from the data, it was found that the residents of Salatiga were concerned. But in 2018 according to the immigration data they had left Indonesia. Our results showed that no families were living in Salatiga, only parents in Tegal", he said.

Jozeph Paul Zhang was last observed in Germany. But its current existence is thought to be in the countries adjacent to Germany.

Head of Public Relations Division of the National Police, Kombes Ahmad Ramadhan, said that this allegation was based on a mapping taking into account various factors.

"He left Indonesia last January 11, 2018, via Hong Kong. Then why is it said in Germany, lastly? Because Germany does not need a passport to European countries", said Ramadhan.

Until now, said Ramadhan, there was no definite information about the whereabouts of Jozeph Paul Zhang alias Shindy Paul Soerjomeoljono. But National Police's International Relations continues to coordinate with certain parties to find his whereabouts.

"So the certainty can still be traced. Yes, we just wait together, of course, the government, including the Police, is very serious about this", he said.

On the other hand, the National Police also said that there was no information about the profession from Jozeph Paul Zhang. This is because all information relating to the man is still being collected.

"So I don't know what position he is", he said.

On a different occasion, Head of Criminal Investigation Unit of the National Police, Komjen Agus Andrianto, emphasized that he would coordinate with Immigration further to revoke Jozeph Paul Zhang's passport. So, he could no longer flee to another country and finally could be secured.

"We are coordinating with Immigration, hopefully, our advice will be accepted by the Director-General of Immigration at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights to revoke the passport concerned", said Komjen Agus.

With the revocation of Jozeph Paul Zhang's passport, said Komjen Agus, his space will be limited. So, the Police can map its whereabouts.

Moreover, only several countries allow someone to enter without using a passport. In fact, the possibility that Jozeph Paul Zhang will be deported is even greater.

"If you want to go anywhere, you will be secured, potentially for deportation", he said.

For information, this case began when Jozeph Paul Zhang, through a discussion forum via Zoom, claimed to be the 26th prophet. This video is also shown on his personal YouTube channel.

The man opened a zoom discussion forum entitled "Puasa Lalim Islam". Jozeph Paul Zhang also challenges anyone who dares to report himself to the police regarding blasphemy by claiming to be the 26th prophet.